This invention relates generally to computer network-based systems and more particularly to organizing information stored within such computer network-based systems.
Organizing information stored within a computer network-based system to identify relevant information, or individuals having expertise, on a specific subject can be tedious and time consuming, especially in systems having numerous databases storing vast amounts of information, such as a computer network-based system commonly used by business entities referred to as an intranet. Organizing information on these types of networks and systems can also be inefficient, and may result in inadvertently grouping information that is not relevant to a specific subject, or may result in the creation of a plurality of small groups of information which may make locating a relevant group of information difficult.
For example, items of information included on an entity's intranet are typically stored and searched for with an online community definition. Online community definitions are typically specific in describing the topic for which the information item relates. Information items relating to similar topics, however, are not typically aggregated. Therefore, when a user is attempting to locate an item of information or an expert in a specific topical area, a user performing a search on the intranet for a specific informational topic must scan the search results to attempt to view only those online community definitions that appear relevant. However, even a highly experienced user may have difficulty in locating only the relevant information items, and as such searching for relevant information items within the search list may be time consuming.
Similarly, it is also beneficial to organize information stored within a computer network-based system that is a wide area network commonly referred to as the Internet. The present invention can also be used to organize such information stored on the Internet.